For the last couple years, “AI in education” has mostly meant one person, one chatbot, one screen. Fast answers. Personalized help. A private experience.
And to be fair, sometimes that’s useful.
But if that’s the main model we scale, we risk building a generation of learners who relate to technology instead of relating through it.
That’s why we hung on every word of today's Edtech Insider's Substack, “The Case for Social AI in Education." Alex Sarlin argues that the next wave of educational AI won’t be centered on solitary agents — it will be centered on Social AI: AI designed to support groups of people learning together.
What is Social AI?
Social AI is different from “AI that answers.” It’s AI that facilitates:
In other words: AI as social infrastructure, not a private oracle.
Why it matters (and why educators feel the pain)
Educators already know collaborative learning works. Project-based learning, peer teaching, team problem-solving — these approaches are powerful.
The barrier is almost always logistics:
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Who should work with whom?
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How do you ensure discussions stay productive?
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How do you support every group when you can’t be everywhere?
Social AI is promising because it targets those exact friction points — without removing the human components that matter.
The biggest shift: facilitation over “answers”
One of the most important lines in the argument is this:
When AI facilitates discussion rather than providing answers, students still have to do the cognitive work.
That’s the goal. Not shortcutting. Not outsourcing thinking. Better thinking — together.
A note we appreciated: Social AI addresses the real concerns
The piece also names four anxieties driving resistance to AI in schools:
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screen time & isolation
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replacing teachers
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students outsourcing thinking
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lack of transparency
The Social AI model points toward a healthier direction: AI that helps students talk face-to-face (or live), supports instructors with group logistics, makes thinking visible, and keeps the learning process auditable.
Where Breakout fits
We were honored to be included in the article’s “Who’s Building It?” section.
Because what they describe is exactly what we’ve built at Breakout Learning: AI-facilitated, peer-to-peer learning where instructors get structured, scalable discussions aligned to learning objectives, and students do the hard (but valuable) part: reasoning out loud with other humans.
Our core belief at Breakout Learning is that the most exciting future is AI that helps people learn together, and we're proud to be a champion of Social AI that powers collaboration.
If you’re exploring AI this year, here’s a simple test
Before you adopt a tool, ask:
Does it strengthen relationships and collaboration… or does it push students into a more isolated learning loop?
If it’s the second, it may save time in the short run. But it won’t build the kind of learning community students need.
Want to see what Social AI looks like in a real course?
If you’re curious, we’ll show you examples and help you design a discussion module around your learning objectives. Reach out to our team to find out how easy (and quick) it is to integrate Social AI into your classroom.
Because learning shouldn’t suck. And it definitely shouldn’t be lonely.
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